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Writing on Film by Sean Burns

Category Archives: Reviews

“It’s a millennial, movie-mad hall of mirrors that’s designed to drive you a little bit crazy. The sidewinding structure mimics similar L.A. sunshine noirs in the hazy, addled-detective tradition of Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, except that instead of a private dick Sam’s just kind of a regular one.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 07/03/2019

“Transplanting a cringe-inducing relationship comedy into Wicker Man territory, Aster conjures some of the summer’s sickest laughs. Amid all the entrails and ritual sacrifice, Midsommar is also a droll comedy of manners, an irresistible revenge fantasy and a warning to bad boyfriends everywhere. It’s the best breakup movie I’ve seen in ages.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 07/01/2019

“A shambles, featuring far too many interview subjects to keep straight and a wobbly sense of rhythm that sometimes seems to forget about Berg for big stretches of screen time. There’s an overreliance on familiar stock footage and the kind of chintzy production music you hear in industrial videos. It feels like something you’d be forced to watch in school.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 06/26/2019

“A deliberate re-entrenchment for the director, Anna is not a movie about new tricks but rather a wallow through Besson’s familiar fetishes. This means lots of long tracking shots in which our long-limbed ingenue struts through opulent hotel hallways packing pistols, plus some spectacular action set-pieces filmed with the high gloss of fashion photography.” – North Shore Movies, 06/25/2019

“Like an aging rock band on a summer shed tour a decade or two after being relevant, it hits all the expected notes with a practiced professionalism and provides a fun night out for anyone who isn’t foolish enough to expect any inspiration. Mildly amusing and profoundly unnecessary, it’s got everything you’re looking for except for anything new.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 06/20/2019

“What’s depressing is that a film so progressive half-a-century ago has been revived as an ass-backwards celebration of boorish, boomer intransigence. How could they do this to John Shaft? One of the coolest characters in movie history is now a reactionary old crank pissing and moaning about those damn millennials and their coconut water.” – North Shore Movies, 06/16/2019

“One shot of these shambling cadavers mindlessly muttering product names while staring at their smartphones sort of says it all without bringing anything fresh to the table. It doesn’t help that we’ve been oversaturated with zombie stories for the past few years. This is the first Jarmusch film that feels behind the curve instead of ahead of it.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 06/12/2019